Poll: Hochul and Collins still neck and neck

A months worth of door knocking and television advertisements has moved the electorate in Western New York … one point.

A poll released this morning by the Siena Research Institute shows Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-Amherst, is now trailing Republican challenger Chris Collins by a single point — well within the poll’s margin of error. Hochul has the same level of support as an Oct. 7 survey by Siena — 47 percent — while Collins, the former Erie County executive, raised his support one point to 48 percent. Five percent of the 636 likely voters surveyed were undecided or not voting, giving the poll a 3.9 percent margin of error.

“Hochul has taken a bigger hit from voters over the course of the campaign, having started with a better favorability rating than Collins and now it’s weaker,” said poll spokesman Steve Greenberg. “However, both candidates’ favorability ratings are equally strong with their own party and nearly evenly split among independents.”

He noted that Mitt Romney has a solid lead over Barack Obama in the district, which contains more enrolled Republicans than Democrats. That bodes well for Collins.